example, than Ettie--it might be that they weren't so good, not so high
in heaven; but they were finer in the manner of blooded horses
rebelling against the plow traces. They were more elegant, slimmer,
with a greater fire. That too was the secret of their memorable power
over him; he wanted a companion different from a kitchen drudge; when
he returned home at evening, he wanted a wife cool and sweet in crisp
white with a yellow ribbon about her waist, and store slippers. He
loved Lucy's superiority--it was above ordinary things. "Like a star,"
Calvin Stammark told himself.

He, with everything else that had combated their desire, depriving them
of the very necessities for his adoration, had been to blame.

"Lucy," he said, bending over her and speaking rapidly, "let's you and
me go and learn all this life together. Let's run away from
Greenstream and Wilmer Deakon and even Ettie, what we ought to hold
by, and see every theater in the country. I've got enough money----"

The radiance of the gesture by which she interrupted his speech filled
him with pounding joy.

"Oh, shall we!" she cried; and then hugged him wildly, her warm young
arms about his neck.

"Of course we will," he reassured her; "and right away, to-morrow. You
and me."

He felt her lips against his, and then more cautiously she took up the
immediate planning of their purpose. It would be ridiculously easy;
they would drive to Stanwick in the buggy.